Category Archives: Growing food

The Dervaes family live on 1/10th of an acre 15 minutes from downtown L.A.. In itself that’s not strange. What’s crazy is that they manage to maintain a sustainable and independent urban farm. Complete with animals!

In a year they produce around 4,300 pounds of veggies, 900 chicken , 1000 duck eggs, 25 lbs honey, and pounds of seasonal fruit. There are over 400 species of plants. What?! They have everything they need to ‘live off the land.’ From beets to bees. Chickens to chickpeas.

So THIS is why I love to garden–
“Getting down and dirty is the best ‘upper’ – Serotonin….
Harvest ‘High’ – Dopamine”

I have often remarked on the great joy I feel when I forage in the garden, especially when I discover and harvest the ‘first of the season’, the first luscious strawberry to ripen or emergence of the first tender asparagus shoot. (and yes, the photo is my hand plucking a deliciously sweet strawberry in my garden) I have also often wondered why I had a degree of inherent immunity to the retail-therapy urges that afflict some of my friends and acquaintances. Maybe as a long-term gardener I’ve been getting a constant base-load dopamine high which has reduced the need to seek other ways to appease this primal instinct.” ~ Robyn Francis, author, More

6:38 min Don’t miss this one. Backyard farm started by Jules Dervaes on 4000 sq ft of land in the city. Great story about a dad who wanted to give his children “good stuff” to eat. This family is not only able to feed themselves, they also sell surplus to area chefs and neighbors. Real trailblazers.

So, if one were to devise a strategy for the food movement, it would be this. The public already knows (mostly) that pesticides are dangerous. They also know that organic food is higher quality, and is far more environmentally friendly. It knows that GMOs should be labeled, are largely untested, and may be harmful. That is why the leaders of most major countries, including China, dine on organic food. The immense scale of the problems created by industrial agriculture should, of course, be understood better, but the main facts are hardly in dispute.

But what industry understands, and the food movement does not, is that what prevents total rejection of bland, industrialised, pesticide-laden, GMO food is the standard acceptance, especially in Western countries, of the overarching agribusiness argument that such food is necessary. It is necessary to feed the world.

So, if the food movement could show that famine is an empty threat then it would also have shown, by clear implication, that the chemical health risks and the ecological devastation that these technologies represent are what is unnecessary. The movement would have shown that pesticides and GMOs exist solely to extract profit from the food chain. They have no other purpose. Therefore, every project of the food movement should aim to spread the truth of oversupply, until mention of the Golden Fact invites ridicule and embarrassment in the population, rather than fear.
by Jonathan Latham; source

US children born in 1992 had a 1 in 150 chance of being autistic. That has increased in 2002 to 1 in 68 risk. I believe now its 1 in 50. Children born in 2025 will have a 50% chance being born autistic according to senior researcher, Stephanie Seneff. Studies abound. Here’s one researcher discussing the Charge Study.
4:25 min video

This is a great idea. Normally I don’t care for storing food in plastic. However, if it is a choice between drinking smoothies or skipping them because you can’t plan ahead to have ingredients on hand…or take the time to put it together in the morning… Well, this is a great way to get organized to eat well.Smoothie Kit Creations by Tammy Kresge